Finally a concrete announcement on the Extended Edition of the first of the Hobbit Films. And happily, there will be a DVD release. I was concerned at this point, since the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions were partly responsible for the DVD revolution back in the early 2000's, and I was worried that The Hobbit might go all blu-ray, which is a laughable yet potential thought.

The extended cut will feature 12 more minutes of integrated footage, on top of about thirty minutes that was included theatrically that shouldn't have been. It will be available in three different configurations: a 5 disc DVD set, a 3 disc blu-ray set, or a 5 disc 3D blu-ray set. Regardless of which version you pick up, there will be over nine hours of behind the scenes extras, including production diaries, commentaries, digital effect work, documentaries, and everything else that made the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions a cinephile's wet dream.

The Extended Cut will be released on November 5th, with a digital version available on October 22nd.

Via Den of Geek.